T-Mobile (US Launch)

When Deutsche Telekom entered the US market by purchasing VoiceStream, we helped them launch the T-Mobile brand, linking the strategic equities of the “German side of the business” with the “realities of the VoiceStream brand and its baggage in the USA.” It basically boiled down to: With which Hollywood star do we replace Jamie Lee Curtis as the spokesperson?” While Catherine Zeta-Jones wasn’t our first choice, the equities she embodied helped make the brand healthy through the transition from old to new. Marketing lesson: create your own brand equities; don’t rely on a spokesperson for the long-term. OJ? We mean, “OK?”